The dam on the farm
I got my headline for this feature from the remark by Abubakar Sidick Ahmed, Station Manager of Radio Universe, University of Ghana, Legon when we went to the countryside on a serious yet relaxing expedition.
We had been invited to visit a farm, a modern one of course, that feeds an insatiable market in Europe.
A rather sandy and appalling access road leads to the state-of-the-art farming venture situated off the Aburi-Nsawam Road.
When we eventually reached the farm I was amazed at its modernity and the seriousness those associated with it performed their roles. From the agronomists to the farmhands, there was no sign of idleness.
As soon I set my eyes on a dam to the right side of the farm, I remembered President Nana Akufo-Addo’s flagship “One Village One Dam” mantra and juxtaposed it, if you like, with the rather lame efforts of his political opponents who sought to denigrate it and create the impression that it was but a pipedream.
Allen Jubin, our host, was to later pass a remark which those who want to go into farming but are scared to do so would find an important fillip.
The dam provided the water requirements of the farm and standing next to it is an array of modern farming equipment such as the famous Massey Fergusson tractors, well known to me when I was a school boy in Tamale.
There were other equipment I had not seen before. A couple of Spanish agronomists were standing by them.
The farm itself was a picture of lines of whitish materials covering young plants which I was to learn later protected the shoots from pests until they were strong to withstand such attacks.
As we proceeded deep into the bowels of the farm I spotted yellowish fruits obviously from the melon family, a name I have never come across before.
The network of water pipes conveying water to the plants was amazing. The dam, as the reservoir of the water, was linked to an elaborate maze of pipes and it just looked awesome.
A Spanish agronomist plucked one of the yellowish fruits and with a sharp knife cut what we were told was cantaloupe melon. It has an assortment of flavours wrapped in one fruit.
The fruits are destined for European markets. At the time of our visit, the order book of the company running the farm was full and they were unable to meet further demands, a symptom of success.
Perhaps that was why Sidick said we must be serious in Ghana. In a country where there are many pessimists, especially among politicians, he could not have been more blunt and incensed.
In our company was the freshly minted Upper East Regional Minister Rockson Bukari, whose interest in having the cantaloupe farm replicated in his part of the country knew no bounds.
His curiosity was satisfied when the Spaniard agronomist told him that the climatic conditions in the North were favourable for the production of the Cantaloupe melon, which we learnt takes some 75 days from planting the seed to harvest, with some fruits being ready for harvest in 65 days. This compares favourable to Spain, the world’s largest exporter of melon which takes 90 days.
As we went round Allen Jubin and I talked about the how the project all started.
SG Safari Farm is the product of an earlier proof of concept conducted two years ago. The success story which we beheld is young but already making inroads in markets in Spain, France and UK.
“We used this farm to conduct the proof of concept about two years ago. The history of this project started with my strategic partners in the UK, a company called Hain Daniels the largest food processor in the UK,” he said.
“Our partners used to buy pineapple from Ghana and continue to do so at significantly reduced volumes due to the limited quantities now produced in Ghana today. As part of their strategy to diversify their sourcing arrangements, Hain Daniels asked that we try something else in Ghana,” he said.
Continuing, he said, “They asked what else they could source/produce from Ghana in commercial quantities. At the time of this discussion there was a shortage of melons in Europe, the only country producing was Brazil, which had failed to meet the market demand, so you can imagine what had happened to prices.
With this backdrop, we agreed to produce melons on a trial basis in Ghana. We quickly agreed the terms of reference, funding, critical success factors and embarked on a proof of concept to find out which melon varieties grew well in Ghana. At the start of the project we knew watermelons grew well in Ghana but we were not sure of the other varieties.”
According to him, “The proof of concept focused on three varieties of melon, the cantaloupe, yellow honeydew and piel de sapoas, known as the santaclaus melon. These varieties proved successful. The post-harvest handling was also not too onerous. We exported the fruits from the pilot to Hain Daniel in the UK. This I believe was Ghana’s first in cultivating these varieties for export.”
The next question for the team, he said, was “how do we leverage this proof of concept to produce significant volumes and transfer the knowledge to other farms. We approached the Sea-freight Pineapple Exporters of Ghana (SPEG), who had all along maintained a keen interest of the outcomes to join us in commercializing the project.”
He said “on the back of this understanding SPEG approached the Export Development and Industrial Fund (EDIF). EDIF agreed to fund the infrastructure requirements. Hain Daniels was the anchor customer, with this backing we started developing a market for the Ghana melon in the UK, France and Spain. We sourced the technical knowhow and other inputs from Spain, the world’s largest exporter of melon and the project commenced.”
When I asked “do you recommend it to other business men?” his response was reassuring “Absolutely! as far as I’m concerned there is a market out there for Ghana. I believe anybody can do it, for the period that we are talking about, which is from September to April, prices of melons are high in Europe. The major producer country during this period is Brazil. In middle of February, the Brazil season ends, then comes the sweet spot for Ghana between February and April, when demand in Europe completely outstrips supply, an excellent window of opportunity for Ghana. Senegal has taken advantage of the situation and is producing melons for Europe. Of course, other South American countries like Costa Rica, Honduras are getting in on the act though not with significant volumes. If we cultivate the melons in the North then maybe we can produce from September right to April too. Apart from all the pluses I have talked about, we have a pricing advantage in Europe, unlike the South American countries, Ghana’s produce is exempt of any duties or taxes.”
As to the challenges, he said, “Most of our farmers rely on nature and nature is very forgiving if the crop you are planting follows nature very closely. Growing the melon is basically a sprint with an engineering discipline, so you need to make sure that you are applying all the things that need to be applied and you are disciplined in your approach.”
He said, “To change attitudes from being laissez-faire to disciplined and managed, a process which forces farmers to irrigate by hours, apply fertilizer and other plant nutrients at specified intervals, and apply pesticides of measured quantities has been a little bit of a challenge. It’s has been cultural shock. However, as you witnessed on this farm the desire to succeed is a good motivator for change. You see the farm employs the right agronomic practices and discipline at par with any successful melon farm. Our order book is full and closed for this season.
We still have people knocking on our door every day enquiring, ‘Allen don’t you have a spare container anywhere’. The minimum order size we send to Europe is a 40ft reefer container.”
As to what he thinks about the President’s “one village one dam initiative, he said, “We have done it, and if we have done it on a farm why can’t the government do it for a village. I am still to be convinced why it cannot be done. We created 13 dams on 13 farm sites within a short space of time, in two different regions; so if you say to me it is not possible I don’t understand. We have 120 hectares for the first phase of this project and it took us about three months to completely set up dams and install irrigation each site. To make agriculture an all-year round revenue and employment opportunity you need a dam that allows you to rotate crops, and also leverage the dam for other purposes. In Ghana we have sunshine all year round, what we don’t have is rainfall all year round, so if we solve the rainfall problem through irrigation, and also solve the post-harvest challenges through storage and processing factories, think about the possibilities!”
They also have another concept up their sleeves to keep the land busy all the time. When the land is not ideal for the cultivation of cantaloupe, it can be used for vegetables also for export.
By A.R. Gomda